Tennis Player Roger Federer Receives Death Threat Before Start of Tournament

Next week, the Shangai Masters begin and Roger Federer brought his wife and kids along with him to enjoy the experience. Regardless of how Federer performs, it should be a fun time for the whole Federer family, right? Eh, not so much. According to reports, an anonymous blogger posted a death threat towards the #1 tennis player in the world on a popular Chinese website.

“On October 6, I plan to assassinate Federer for the purpose of tennis extermination,” read the message, posted under the name ‘Blue Cat Polytheistic Religion Founder 07′ on baidu.com.

The user also posted a doctored image showing a decapitated Federer on his knees on a tennis court, with a masked executioner dressed in black and holding an axe posing next to him.

The tournament's director Yang Yibin spoke with Shanghai Youth Daily about the threat and what it means for the Shanghai Masters.

“We hope that it was an oral threat only, and the fan won’t take substantive action,” Yang is quoted as saying. “However, we have to take it seriously. We have contacted the local police and we will upgrade the level of security for Roger. Meanwhile, we will also protect other players’ security.”

We also hope that this is all turns out to be just a threat and nothing more.